Morocco have themselves to blame for going home
Defeat in two early games cost them
Nizhnyi Novgorod, Russia – Morocco were seconds away from handing Spain their first defeat in two years on Monday but their failure to grasp their chance at glory in Kaliningrad was just one in a series of missed opportunities that characterised their appearance at the World Cup.
Spain, whose last defeat came at the 2016 European Championship to Italy, claimed a controversial lastgasp equaliser to send Morocco packing from the tournament with just one point from their three Group B games.
While the north Africans will feel their performances rated more than the solitary point they only had themselves to blame for failing to add to their tally.
An unfortunate, if somewhat bizarre, own goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time saw them lose their opener to Iran despite creating the better chances.
In their second match against Portugal they were the better team but could not claw back an equaliser to Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal.
Defeat in those opening encounters eliminated them before their last game against Spain. Spain substitute Iago Aspas struck in stoppage time to earn the dramatic 2-2 draw.
The squad had mainly been drawn from players born to the expansive Moroccan immigrant communities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain, and coach Herve Renard said they had learned some valuable lessons in Russia.
“We learnt what it is to play at a very high level. We would have loved to go into the next round but we should not regret anything,” he said.
Morocco will look to put their World Cup disappointment behind them by winning next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) for the first time since 1976.